Lauren Long / The Post-StandardA state trooper gets ready to reopen the I-690 east on-ramp from John Glenn Boulevard Monday morning after a portion of the highway had been closed following an early morning accident.

State police struggled for more than a day to confirm Gray's identity, saying they could not locate relatives in her hometown. Gray was taken to Upstate University Hospital after the crash, where she was later pronounced dead.

Investigators were eventually able to locate a half-sister in Ohio to notify, Trooper Jack Keller said this morning. Gray had lived in Syracuse for an unknown period of time, but troopers have not determined where. She appeared to be enrolled in a local college.

Until now, troopers had described her only as 20 years old, based on information from people familiar with her.

Keller said Gray was driving a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix with broken windshield wipers when she struck the center median around 12:30 a.m. during a rainstorm between exits four and five on I-690. The vehicle ended up sideways in the passing lane.

A Fulton man on his way to work at Clear Channel crashed into the Pontiac's driver's side, crushing the vehicle. David P. Grice was recovering at Upstate University Hospital.

After the crash, the Pontiac was nearly in two pieces when it was loaded on a flatbed truck.

Ryan P. Misener, 21, of 4798 Black Oak Drive, was riding in the front passenger seat and died in the crash. The backseat passenger, Joseph M. Clayton, 28, of 5908 Alban Court, was in critical condition at University Hospital.

Keller said the occupants of the Pontiac had just left a house gathering in Van Buren. He said troopers are investigating whether alcohol was served at the gathering, but said it wasn't known if alcohol played any role in the crash.

Troopers said the car had been "borrowed" from the owner, who was not in the vehicle at the time of the crash. The circumstances of how Gray ended up in the car with Misener and Clayton are still under investigation. Gray knew the car's owner, who was also at the gathering.

It wasn't clear where they were going when the crash happened.

"It's tough," Keller said. "We're trying to do a follow-up with interviews, but it may take some time to answer those questions."